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The Amber Sea
Story Summary This is the second story in the series of DoT's lore unveiling. It is probably narrated by the leaderboard reward, Leekan - Fancha - Tchanki, who is an Amberling, meaning he was raised in a community close to the Amber Sea. The Amber Sea and the Silver Sea are explained to be two vast seas parallel to one another, with the entire Texeli population living in between on a relatively small strip of land. This land itself is gargantuan however, as it took the narrator thirty years to traverse it one sea to another. It is compared to the defender's earth, considering Texel to be much larger. Story Step closer, young one, I can barely hear you over the racket. Hoorn-Ving! Hoorn-Ving, be a dear and do that elsewhere…why, whatever it is you’re doing, that’s what. Who ever knows with you? There now, that’s better. Now, young one: you want to know about the other Sea, do you? The one that most of your folk misremember? If I tell it, ’tis no fancy tale but a truth géographique—I want that clear. It may have a fanciful…cadence in the telling, but for that, you shall blame the teller not the tale. Two oceans has this world, ever asunder. A sea of silver, another of amber. The Amber Sea—there she lies, changeable as the sands and rich as even-light. Our historians say the magic that made it thus was cast by your folk, yours say the opposite. However it was, we learned to cross it, by and by. Your folk now—they fear to cross still and in their fear, they never learned the trick of it. Those hapless ones are out there, trapped in great red-gold rollers like fern in old sap. That is what “amber” is, my daughter. Did you not know? ’Tis no stone from the hills but nectar from the trees, made beautiful by time as we are. As we are. Our kind crossed freely, and were called Amberlings by your somber folk. Our ways were a scandal and a delight to you, as were yours to us. Some of us settled among you for the same simple reasons that living things choose a new home: a roof that slants pleasingly, a silence that does not jar. But one thing we learned to speak sparingly of: the Silver Sea. Even you will have been taught our world is a sphere, like the one good Tippitch capers upon—but vaster, far vaster. No one has seen all of it. If this world were one of your great cities, we live in but a couple of rooms. Think of that! And round this sphere is a girdle of land, and we exist upon it, all of us. This we know, for we have a curiosity that takes us out of ourselves; often we never find a way back. Do you see it now, little daughter? Two oceans has this world, ever asunder. Along one hem of the girdle, the Silver Sea, along the other, the Amber Sea; each circled as snug as a jewel in its setting. Four-and-thirty summers passed as I journeyed across that band of earth, from the shores of the Amber Sea to the coast lit by the Silver Sea. How vast that slimness seems to us, how small we are. This is why we are given to be forever, perhaps—so we may have an eternity to inch along the world that dwarfs us so. But you are too young for such philosophizing and want only to know: What did it look like? And I can only answer: It was as unlike the Amber Sea as—as the Amber Sea is unlike that lilting brook just past your sister’s smithy. A brightness made for the hand as well as eyes: A heaving, roiling mirror-glass stretching as far as the eye can see, with the noon sun full upon it. For days, the air had been glistering, full of secret light. When I finally stood upon the indigo dunes, I had to shield my eyes against the brightness. Thus, my first view of what I had sought for four-and-thirty turns—or years, as you call it—was through slits in a nux wrapper. I must have been a sight fit to make a dragon laugh, tottering down the sands wearing a makeshift mask of love notes. Adventures are full of such moments, little daughter. We are the buffoonish get of two great graces, magic and nature—and at best, our parents tolerate us. Did I get used to the glare? Oh yes. I lived there by the Silver Sea for the next hundred-and-a-half turns. I hoped to cross, but the water—quicksilver, my friend Edwin of Lud called it—would slide me back to shore as neat as a fried egg off a greased pan. I have a notion that if one were to get far enough across, the quicksilver would flip one onto the other shore… But that begs the question, what would happen exactly halfway? Is there a chain of fools such as me out there, forever becalmed? It is no idle thought, for I have seen something of the hidden power of the Silver Sea; I have seen what it does to exos. It is a truth géographique, my daughter. Many tens of years before they benighted your kind, the exos came for us Amberlings. Irises bloom aplenty along the Silver Coast, and through their slender throats streamed great shining ships. Some survived to land upon the indigo sands, or even into the cover of great forests beyond. But not long. What it did not pluck from the sky, the Silver Sea would draw from the dunes, like a splinter from flesh. Then…swallow without a trace into its shining depth. The machines that took refuge among the pale trees never lasted. They crumbled to gray dust, though we who lived along the coast learned to beware of them, all the same. Even a leprous husk of a drone hungers, you understand. It is not a thing, but a need given shape. It needs life. It needs dots. They came for us, but the Silver Sea shielded us. So they came for you. They will keep coming, little daughter. It needs life. We fight them, but the war must only be a means to an end. In the end, we must provide for them what they need. Else we will pass into realm of myth, a tall tale told by the fireside of old defenders back in their small and feral world. Summary This event is a MOB RAID event. Twice a day, players join a''' MOB''' (a team of many players) and compete against another MOB. Players earn points by fighting and defeating RAID BOSSES that appear while traveling in the event area. Raid bosses are typically hard to defeat by one player, but there are rewards for just attacking a boss, depending on whether you attacked with 1 BP or 3 BP. Upon defeating a boss, players get awarded points for top 3 MVP spots, as well as prizes for "clinching" (finishing) the boss, and a raid prize for participating. Bosses that are spawned in a MOB are visible to both teams and can be attacked by anyone in those teams. Mob raids feature salvos which increase based on consecutive boss battles, providing point boost and extra EDGE 'during battles. Salvos are more quickly increased if 3 BP are used, however you will not affect a salvo if you were the last person to attack a boss in your '''MOB '(i.e., you must alternate attacks). At the end of twelve-hour period, whichever mob camp has the most points receives a "primacy" prize and the loser camp receives a "consolation" prize. The top 20 MVPs on both teams also receive their own MVP prizes slightly different depending if you won or lost, and all participants are awarded 10 Pixite. The event is divided into two parts, the "First half" and the "Second half." The more mobs you win in a half, the better your primacy reward is. In the first half of this event, the primacy (and consolation) reward came from the Kohmoo - Puhshi - Suyzin fighter line, and in the second half, the primacy reward came from the Hoorn-Ving - Zwa-Grot - Gou-Vlag line. This event also featured '''BP Bosses, or Shenkers. At certain hours of the day (specifics to come) the INFO '''screen would update players with the notification of "BP Boss Sighted!", and this would appear also during '''JOURNEYS. In the first 30 minutes of the hour, Level 30 Shenkers would be able to be spawned like any other boss. From 30 minutes onwards, Level 60 Shenkers would be available, and from 45 minutes, Level 80 Shenkers would be available. BP Bosses are notable for being extroardinarily difficult to fight because they take small amounts of damage and deal very significant damage. Shenkers often use the ability Thwart All, which is a 2nd Priority skill, meaning it PROCS '''before most other skills. Their other attack is called '''ENEMY ENGAGED, which is a natural single target attack that is very weak in comparison. BP Bosses are also notable for only receiving damage in the range of 4-9, meaning they cannot receive damage below 4 nor above 9. Players have devised specific LEVIES '''to fight Shenkers, such as using fighters with the Daze skill to lessen the magical damage of Thwart All, and coupling them with Venting fighters, who respond to the Shenker's skill attacks. This allows players to make a significant amount of '''POINTS '''off these bosses, as points are awarded based off the damage dealt to the Boss, unlike normal bosses. They still award '''POINTS '''for '''MVPs '''and '''CLINCHERS, however. Typically these bosses are very popular in MOBS, and it is often very competitive to receive the '''MVP '''prize for them at any level. This is because they are the best way to earn points in the first few days - however they are outclassed by some top-level bosses in the last two days of the event. They are also the only boss to keep its name and sprites between events; the other bosses change these every time. Event Units Category:Mob Raid Category:Events Category:Short story